Page 47: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (August 2000)

Italian Maritime Report

Passenger Vessels With Pedigrees

Italian prowess in the field of passen- ger vessel design, outfitting and technol- ogy is near legendary status in the inter- national marine community. Even as the grip on these high-value, niche vessels loosens — largely due to cost-cutting competition from the Far East — a quick peak a the world orderbook and recent deliveries of cruise ships quickly tells who currently reigns supreme in the cruise shipping market.

Evidence of Italian influence in the passenger vessel segment is undeniable, and over the years the country's ship- builders have catered to some of the world's most discerning and quality demanding customers, such as U.S.- based Disney Cruise Line.

A recent delivery, which espouses the expertise of the Italian ship construction community was delivered this spring from Fincantieri's Venice-Marghera shipyard. Built for Holland American

Line of the Carnival Corp., Zaandam is a 61,000-ton ship, which measures 780 x 115 ft. (238 x 35 m) and can cruise at up to 23 knots. The luxury ship is in stark contrast toward the trend of "big- ger is better," (which, by the way, Fin- cantieri has helped to foster and deliv- ered ably with its construction of such mega-ships as Grand Princess) and embodies the shipowner's desire to re- develop and renew the tradition of excellence, which has been the hallmark of the Holland America Line, one of the world's oldest lines specializing in pas- senger transport.

Zaandam's 720 cabins are designed to afford maximum luxury and space for its 1,824 passengers, and every detail of the ship — from its technologically advanced marine products and systems to its interior materials and artistic accents — were chosen with purpose.

Zaandam is the seventh vessel built by

Fincantieri for HAL, and this ship is the third to carry the name for the company, with the first ship debuting in 1882 and the second in 1939. Fincantieri will also deliver another five ships for the line over the next few years. Among these to be built is Amsterdam, a sistership to

Rotterdam, which will feature the Azi- pod propulsion system. The other four in the program are a new class of 84,000-ton Panamax vessels.

Headquartered in Trieste. Fincantieri is separated into three business units: the Merchant Ship Business Unit, the

Naval Vessel Business Unit and the

Cruise Ship Business Unit. The compa- ny offers seven shipyards strategically positioned throughout Italy, as well as two of the largest and most renowned centers for ship design in Genoa and Tri- este.

Bigger, Faster, More

While cruise ship design, development and construction sometimes seemingly dominate the Italian shipbuilding scene, it is far from the Italians' exclusive area of expertise. Shipyards such as

Rodriquez Cantieri Navali SpA have long served the lucrative niches of pro- ducing technologically advanced people and car carriers.

Volcan de Tauro (pictured) is the latest incarnation of the company's popular and proven Aquastrada class, and was delivered to her owner Armas Ocean Jet in the spring.

The 374 ft. (114 m) steel construction monohull exhibited a maximum speed of 45 knots and a service speed of 40 knots at 90 percent MCR and a full load at sea trials. The former and latter were made possible through Rodriquez' own

SMS stabilization system installed, a

Seaworthiness Management System, whir1- ' "omprised of four lateral fins and iwo i-roils.

The Aquastrada TMV 114 is the 220th vessel delivered by the specialty yard since 1956, when the first commercial high speed vessel was launched. Cur- rently, the yard is building 32 patrol boats capable of 40 knots for the Italian

Coast Guard, and scheduled for delivery over the next two years.

Main Particulars - Volcan De Tauro

Type . .Aquastrada TMV 114

Owner Armas Ocean Jet

Builder Rodriquez Cantieri Navali SpA

Class BV

Flag Spanish

Home port Las Palmas

Length, (o.a.) 374 ft. (114 m)

Length, (waterline) 316 ft. (96.2 m)

Beam 54 ft. (16.5 m)

Draft 8 ft. (2.5 m)

DWT 547

Passengers 880

Car capacity 200

Hull material High tensile steel

Superstructure material . Light alloy

Main engines .. .(6) Caterpillar 3616s

Power 6 x 6,000 kW

Aux. engines (4) Caterpillar

Gearboxes (3) BHS

Propulsion (3) Lips waterjets

Max. speed 45 knots

Cruise speed (90% MCR, Full Load) .. .40 knots

YOU CANT

T

Please consider my request for free cable charts.

I Name

Company

Street Address (no P.O. Box ff

City

Zip

Vessel Name

Type of Business • 12200 Cape May to Cape Hatteras

D 12300 Approaches to New York • 12318 Little Egg Inlet to Hereford Inlet • 12323 Sea Girt to Little Egg Inlet

D 12353 Shinnecock Light to Eire Island Light • 13205 Block Island Sound and Approaches • I321M Martha's Vineyard to Block Island

CI 18007 San Francisco to Cape Flatten n 18480 Approaches to Straits of Juan de Fuca

L I8S80 Cape Blanco to Yaquina Head i 1 1862(1 Point Arena to Trinidad Head • 18640 San Francisco to Point Arena • 18700 Point Conception to Point Sur 26320 Florida and the Bahama Islands

CI 1 1(60 Cape Canaveral to Key West

What you can't see could be bad for your business. And for ours. There may be new submarine cables in the area where you are working. Concert would like you to have free cable charts showing where they are located. And take the mystery out of avoiding them.

Mail coupon to: Conceit

Submarine Cable Protection 340 Mt. Kemble Ave., Rm S-200

Morristown, NJ 07960, USA

Or call us toll-free: 1 800-235-CHARTS

Chart requests subject to availability and are considered on a case-by-case basis. coIUcert iAT&T

Volcan de Tauro, built for Armas Ocean Jet by Rodriquez Cantieri Navali to its Aquastrada Class. ^•Mr** is the latest addition

August, 2000 47